The present invention relates to a precision aiming system for a weapon having a barrel for firing a projectile and a rail aligned with the centerline of the barrel for mounting accessories on the weapon.
As used herein, the term “weapon” is intended to mean any type of firearm, be it a rifle, mortar, shoulder launched weapon or the like, which is either manually or automatically aimed to shoot at a target.
The current high demand for weapons has created a dynamic weapons' accessory market within the firearms industry. This trend started in the 1990s when Knight Armament Company and SOCOM worked closely together to field a standardized firearms rail kit allowing electro-optical manufacturers to provide modular components. Today there is a huge array of accessories designed to fit on the Knight rail system which uses two principle rail dimensional standards.
At about the turn of the twenty-first century, NATO began studying the concept of sharing power among rail components. The overall goal of this program was to develop a set of weapon accessories that collectively shared one power source, thereby reducing the carried load of the solider.
Concurrently with the NATO effort, DARPA announced a programs to improve the aim of a weapon so as to reach a target in a single first shot. Industry also began developing fire control systems with integrated sensors with the goal of advancing the technology with integrated “toolkits” of high end sensors. This effort resulted in users creating their own optimized advanced fire control systems with custom-selected integrated sensors. This led finally to the selection of standardized weapons by the military services and law enforcement agencies while it also allowed members of tactical teams and individual users to design “mission kits” of interoperable sensor arrays without redundancy.
With this perspective, it may be seen that the introduction of modular rail systems has allowed for a high degree of tailoring by weapons users. The United States Marines outfit their rifles' rail system with a kit that is different than the rail kit for a U.S. Army soldier. Within US SOCOM, all commands and different units again outfit their kit of accessories with different rail-attachable components. The variations in mission objectives create a strong user preference for fitting accessories to the kit based on a specific, precise mission.
Prior research in the art of improving the aim of a weapon is documented in the following references, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference and made a part of the present disclosure:    1) “The Effects of Augmented Auditory Feedback on Psychomotor Skill Learning in Precision Shooting” by N. Kontinnen et al., Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 2004, 26, 306-316;    2) “Closing the Gap: Developing the Sharpshooter Capability in the CF” by S. Grant, www.armyforces.gc.ca/caj;    3) “Effects of Augmented Feedback on Motor Skill Learning in Shooting” by K. Mononen, Studies in Sport, Physical Education and Health, Vol. 122;    4) “The Influence of Muscle Tremor on Shooting Performance” by M. Lakie, Experimental Physiology, 95.3 pp 441-450;    5) “Parallax in Rifle Scopes” www.opticsplace.com    6) “An Exploratory Investigation of the Effect of Individualized Computer-Based Instruction on Rifle Marksmanship Performance and Skill” by G. Chung at al., 2009, Cresst Report 754, Natl. Ctr. for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing; and    7) “Using Motion Capture to Determine Marksmanship Shooting Profiles: Teaching Soldiers to Shoot Better Faster” by W. Platte et al., 2008 Thesis, MOVES Institute, Naval Postgraduate School.